Illinois lottery winner wants to help abused women

OAK PARK, Ill. — A suburban Chicago lottery winner says she wants to use part of her winnings to help abused women and children.

The Illinois Lottery says 27-year-old Yajaira Perez of Oak Park won its $5,000 A Week for 20 Years prize on an instant lottery ticket. She says she wants to use some of her money to create a rehabilitation center for battered women and children.

Perez says she "couldn't believe it" when she scratched the ticket with a penny and saw the prize.

Perez says she also plans to use the money for her family, retirement investments and college for her children. She says she and her family are blessed and she urges other lottery winner to "try and give back in some way."